Heavyweights Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubios 20-2 (19) and Filip ‘El Animal’ Hrgovic 17-0 (14) will meet in an intriguing clash of contenders at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on June 1.
The bout will be part of the Queensberry Promotions versus Matchroom Boxing ‘5v5’ card beneath the four-belt unification clash between WBC, WBO and IBF light heavyweight boss Artur Beterbiev 19-0 (19) and WBA kingpin Dmitry Bivol 22-0 (11).
Britain’s Dubois, 26, was last in action at the same venue in December when he stopped Jarrell Miller in the 10th and final round. The 31-year-old Hrgovic of Croatia is coming off a first-round blowout of Mark De Mori on the same card.
The duo have shared a ring before as sparring partners, but this time it will be about more than just bragging rights. Hrgovic’s number one ranking with the IBF will be on the line.
“I am very confident,” said Dubois at the London press conference to announce the fight today. “I’m working hard and ready to prove that I have changed. We had a spar a while back, and he [Hrgovic] keeps talking about that, so I want to show that people can change. I am a different animal now.”
True to form, Hrgovic raised the sparring session.
“I hope he has changed because the fight will last only a few rounds if he didn’t change,” Hrgovic said. “So I do hope he has changed because that sparring we did together was not so good for him.”
Dubois has long had Hrgovic in his sites, telling Seconds Out in February: “I need a dangerous opponent and someone they rank highly so I can shut him all up again.”
Hrgovic was considered lucky to sneak by Zhilei Zhang in their fight two years ago when he won a close unanimous decision.
“A close fight a lot of people thought that Zhang beat him in that fight, but Hrgovic got the nod,” Dubois said. “I don’t want to go into that, you know he’s done the business in there. He didn’t look too great and you know I see some weaknesses that we want to take hold of.”
Dubois and Hrgovic just a host of other stellar matchups on the card. Heavyweights Zhang and Deontay Wilder have been paired up, while Raymond Ford will put his WBA featherweight title on the line against Nick Ball.
At light heavyweight Willy Hutchinson will meet Craig Richards and Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams clashes with Hamzah Sheeraz at middleweight.
“I have to say, they are all 50/50 fights,” said Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn. “You could argue 60/40 for either promoter but that is why this card is so special. We have two thrilling heavyweight fights, a world title fight and a domestic fight and an England vs America.
“They should strap us up with a heart monitor on the night because one of us could go over.”
Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions added: “Every fighter we picked because we want them to win. I do think we have a very strong team. He has some strong fighters but I think we have a really, strong team.
“This is got excitement written all over it. The fighters are all up for it because they are representing themselves and their promotional companies.”